The Archetype That Is Dexter

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Trish and Rob

The other night, we went to a local bookstore to see Jeff Lindsay – who created one of the strangest archetypes in modern fiction. Dexter. Even Jung would be floored by Dexter: blood splatter expert with Miami Dade police department who is also a serial killer. Not just your ordinary serial killer (if there is any such thing) but a killer with a code that was handed down to him by his father, who was a cop.

Jeff tapped into the fascination with serial killers. Who the hell are they? What motivates them? What kind of darkness spawns them? But he went even farther. He gave his serial killer a family and the ghost of his father, his mentor. He gave Dexter a sharp-edged sister with her own issues. He created some idiosyncratic secondary characters. And above all, he gave his series humor.

Archetypes, another one of Jung’s inventions, represent our common experiences as human beings. When used effectively in movies and novels, they stay with us. Dexter is a keeper. He appeals to our dark side – but also our human side. He’s a monster, but he has a code. He kills with impunity – but the monsters he kills are worse than he is. Jeff has also given Dexter a rich family background, which has helped to define his needs as as a human being.

What we found so interesting about this signing was the utter rapture of the crowd – and the way Jeff came across. First and foremost, he’s a writer. That means he is supposed to be reclusive, hesitant about speaking in front of a crowd, it carries certain archetypes of its own. Well, Jeff defies our preconceived notions. He’s a riot. He used to be a standup comedian and it shows. He had us all in stitches. He probably has his demons, just as Dexter does, just as most writers do, but he’s also married and the father of three daughters. In his talk, it’s obvious that his wife, Hilary, is his bulwark and his creative partner. It’s also obvious that family is a big deal for him, just as it is for Dexter.

Family changes the dynamics for Dexter, also a father of three – two of which are his wife’s from a previous relationship.Dexter Is Delicious opens in an OB ward. Dexter’s daughter – Lily Ann – has just been born. His sentiments are certainly familiar to new parents – and to all parents with long memories!

We knew Jeff and Hilary before Dexter, met them at writers’ conference on Sanibel Island, a Hemingway event back in the late 1980s when our daughters were in grade school. She’s a Hemingway niece, but back then they were struggling, as we were. It’s uplifting to know that despite Dexter’s success, they really haven’t  changed as people. And Jeff is funnier now, fully in his groove, and undoubtedly grateful to his dark passenger, Dexter, for improving the quality of his family’s life.

May you live long and prosper, Dexter!

Posted in archetypes, dexter, ghosts, writers | 10 Comments

Subtle Synchros

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Trish and Rob

 Today I dropped by our neighbor’s house to ask if she could watch our dog, Noah, for a few days at the end of the month when we’ll be at a book convention. She got out of her huge mom calendar, where her obligations and appointments are printed in red ink. “Sure, that looks good,” she said. Then gave me that look. “Ever since you and Rob gave us a copy of your synchronicity book…” And told me her latest synchro.

Annette is a twin and we’ve posted her synchros  here and here. This one involves her name. I don’t think the name is all that common – not like Jane, for instance, and when I hear it, I think of Anette Funicello from Disney’s The Mousketeers. Hmm. I may be dating myself on that one.

At any rate, a few months ago, Annette, a former flight attendant and now a stay at home mom, started cleaning a neighbor’s house. She did it at first as a service – the neighbor has recently gone blind. But now she does it once a week for pay. Somehow, the house cleaning burgeoned into a business and Annette now cleans homes four days a week, while her kids are in school. A nice supplement to the family income.

So the other day, she gets a call from a woman who would like her home cleaned. She lives 15 or 20 minutes from our area, too far, Annette thinks, but decides to drive out to the woman’s house to see what’s what. The home, she says was huge, 7500 square feet, and the woman has bad arthritis that makes it difficult for her to clean. They came to an agreement about what Annette would clean, then the woman said, “I knew I would hire you when I heard your name.”

“Really? Why?”

“My daughter in law’s name was Annette. She died at the age of 29 from ovarian cancer.”

For Annette, this was personally meaningful because she had read our synchronicity book. The woman who hired her, who hadn’t heard of synchronicity, recognized the importance of the connection in names. And that’s how synchronicity often works, in subtle ways, in our daily lives, humming along in the background.

Posted in names, signs | 20 Comments

Hereafter

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Trish and Rob

The trailer for Clint Eastwood’s new movie, Hereafter, makes this one a must see for us!

Interestingly, here’s another trailer that relates to a paradigm shift.

https://2012timeforchange.com/site/index.html

Posted in afterlife, eastwood, movies | 13 Comments

The New Baby, Hope

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Trish and Rob

 For the past 40 days, 33 miners have been trapped underground in the village of Copiapo. Many of the miners’ families have been living there, sleeping in tents, communicating with their spouses through video chat, made possible by a fiber optic cable dropped through a narrow hole.

One of the trapped miners, Ariel Ticona, had  reason to celebrate today.  At 12:20 PM, his wife, Elizabeth Segovia, gave birth to a baby girl. According to the AP, Ticona and his wife were going to name their daughter Carolina, but “each decided independently to change the name to Esperanza – Spanish for Hope.” As his wife told Chile’s Canal 13 network, “He thought of it there and I thought of it here in the house.  She was going to be named Carolina Elizabeth, but now her name will be Esperanza Elizabeth.”

The synchronicity here is personally significant. Esperanza the baby came into the world the same day that Esperanza the novel did.  Thanks to Ray Getzinger and Nancy Atkinson for alerting us to the story. Their emails came in just minutes apart.

Posted in chilean miners, esperanza, hope, word synchros | 19 Comments

The Hawk

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Trish and Rob

These two synchros come from Vicky D, who comments frequently on the blog. We used her 9-11 synchro in our book. We first “met” her when she wrote Trish about one of her novels.
+++
Our daughter is going to a college in Philadelphia where the mascot is called The Hawk.  She just got accepted to go early to school this year  to help others move in. That program is called Best of the Nest.

The other day my husband and I drove into our driveway and there, sitting on the hood of our daughter’s car, was A HAWK!  It then spread it wings like it does in the The Hawk’s typical picture and flew away. But later, it flew over the house twice.  My daughter loved it and said, “I guess I just got confirmation that I’m supposed to be a Hawk!” (she is a freshman).
+++
Vicki’s second synchro is about Esperanza – the title of my novel that is officially released today. It means hope in Spanish, and is the name of a town in Ecuador where  a man and woman in comas, separated by 40 years in time, end up.
+++
Over the past month I keep having Esperanza sightings.  I’ve told you before that I often have word synchros and I’m in one now.

I open a magazine  and there in an article someone’s name is Esperanza.
I was looking in a cooking catalog and there, something is named Esperanza.
Today, I open a link to Border’s Book store and there’s a CD by someone named Esperanza!
I was reading a book and one of the smaller characters name is Esperanza.

Now this is not a usual name!  This is driving me crazy because I cannot wait for your book to come out and I keep seeing this. I guess it’s also the trickster at work. It’s really annoying me!

  We don’t know who this eyes, nose and mouth belong to! However….

 
Posted in books, esperanza, hawks, Vicki d | 12 Comments

Messages from Water and the Universe

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Trish and Rob
Messages from Water and the Universe

In one of my recent excursions to the bookstore, I came across Dr. Emoto’s new book. We’ve done several posts on him before, but most recently on his prayer for the gulf.

This book is just as wonderful as the others, but what I found really interesting was the afterword. Emoto wrote the afterward in late May 2009, two months short of his 66th birthday. He was on a world tour that last for 35 days. He was to return home, where he would be for two days, then was traveling on to California. He apparently has been living at this pace for nearly a decade.

He writes that after two of his book became bestsellers, he noticed that people began treating him differently, like he was “some kind of savior who had appeared before them.” It made him deeply uncomfortable. So he asked someone on his staff to find someone” who could dive into his psyche and find out why he felt this way.  Someone was found and during the reading, Emoto was told that he had been born many times as a revered teacher, a guru of water. There had been lives among Native Americans, for instance, and during the Mayan civilization.

“Unfortunately, you weren’t able to successfully reach your people, mainly because you allowed them to rely on you too much instead of encouraging them to act on their own,” this person told him. “In this life, you were born as an ordinary man so that would not repeat this failure.”

Later, a Cherokee shaman met with Emoto and he was told he had been reborn about 700 times. “My great grandfather once told me I would meet a man who traveled the world carrying tuning forks,” the shaman said. “Now I see that it is you.”

Emoto was tremendously encouraged by this information. “I also finally understand why I sometimes seem to just know or remember things,” Emoto writes. Then he goes on to say that he’s concerned that the Mayan calendar has no writing beyond December 23, 2012.  He feels he must study the matter more seriously “especially  since I was the water guru (so I’ve been told!) during that ancient civilization. Whether or not something actually happens on that day, my goal is to continue spreading the word about activating the full potential of our DNA, for when we do so, we will better understand and know how to deal with whatever lies in the future.”

Posted in emoto, water | 17 Comments

The Blanket and the Lama

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Trish and Rob

This story was posted on Debra Page’s mythic musing blog and I liked it so much I asked her if we could repost it. We’ve posted several of her synchros – Reindeer Woman and Laryssa are the ones that come immediately to mind. In this one, something created with love is returned with love several years later. The story comes full circle.
+++
When I first met Lama Gyatso in his home in Los Angeles April 2004, I knew with complete certainty that my search for an authentic spiritual teacher was over. After taking refuge (vows) from him, I went home an did what every country girl does  when they love someone: I crocheted him a burgundy and cream afghan (blanket).( I knew nothing about Tibetan customs!) Through the years, the afghan would be on his lap while he gave teachings from his seat in the shrine room.

Lama Chodak Gayatso Nubpa left this Earth last fall. Lama told me before he left, “Don’t worry, you will always be in my Mindstream, no matter what.” I believe him.

This year has been very difficult as my illness, CFS/ME, has been wreaking havoc on my body. I have become 90% housebound, and very weak. I was going through a disheartening period this summer. In early August, my friend, artist Teresa Mill called me. She said she knew I was having a hard time with my illness and insomnia during the nights, but that she had something that may help me.

She arrived at my home with a blanket and some photos. She handed me the photos: they were of my beloved Lama on Coronado Beach, here in San Diego! She explained that she had attended a sand mandala ceremony that he had performed at the beach, sometime in the early or mid-1990’s. Teresa and I met in 2002, in the San Diego art scene. After I had connected with Lama Gyatso in 2004, she told me how she had met him at a sand mandala ceremony in San Diego.

What she didn’t tell me was this: during the ceremony on the beach, Lama Gyatso had become cold. She had given him her blanket and he wrapped himself in it. After the ceremony, the blanket was handed back to her. An attendant told her to take care of the blanket, because it was now an artifact holding many blessings.  Teresa kept the blanket, and did not see Lama Gyatso again.

Teresa gave me this very blanket , knowing how much I love my Lama. She wanted this blanket to comfort me.  This is when I told her, “The first thing I did for Lama, after accepting him as my teacher, was hand crochet him a blanket.” We both laughed at the wonder of it: two blankets ,two friends, many years…. and I know I am still in his Mindstream.

Thank you, Teresa, for a beautiful act of compassion and being part of a story filled with blessings.

Posted in good deeds, spirituality | 15 Comments

9-11 and the 11s

Posted on September 11, 2010 by Trish and Rob

Yes, it’s 9-11 again and worth mentioning some of the numerous synchronicities related to that fateful date. If I had a chance to interview Khalid Sheik Mohammed , who is supposedly behind the planning of the World Trade Center attack, I would ask whether or not the Sept. 11 date was picked intentionally to coincide with the 911 emergency number. Maybe, maybe not.

Whether or not the date itself was a synchronicity, there were countless synchronicities related to 9-11. We wrote in 7 Secrets about the many dreams and premonitions that were recorded related to the tragedy . The use of 9-11 and the World Trade Center in flames in movies seems shocking now.  For instance, in the 1996 film Independence Day, a scene depicts the president and his family being evacuated in Air Force One. Actor Jeff Goldblum opens his laptop to watch the countdown and the camera cuts to a close up of the clock: 9:11:01.

Then there’s the 11 factor, starting with the Twin Towers, which appeared  as a giant #11 reaching the sky.

– The first plane striking the World Trade Center was Flight #11.

– Flight 11 carried 92 passengers. 9+2=11.

– Flight #77, which also struck the other tower carried 65 passengers. 6+5=11.>>9-11 adds up to 11.

– New York is the 11th state.

– New York City has 11 letters.

– So does Afghanistan.

–  George W Bush also has 11 letters.

– Sept. 11 is the 254th day of the year. Those numbers add up to 11.

– 911 days separated the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and the train bombing in Madrid, which happened on 3-11-2004. Those numbers add up to 11.

These synchronicities and many more have appeared on the internet in various versions over the years, but they remain something to ponder on, especially on 9-11.

Finally, here’s what the skeptics say about all of the above. Writing for Snopes.com, Barbara Mikkelson expresses the philosophy of randomness. “… it is but human nature to search for patterns even where none exist. We attempt to impose a gestalt on randomness because chaos is impossible to comprehend, hence our fascination with recurrent themes. We feel something of great import is going on if a particular number comes up time and again, and we are unsettled by it.”

Ms. Mikkelson goes on to say suggest that such an attitude is nonsense, that everything is random and we don’t want to accept it. It’s basically the atheist creed that there is no greater reality, nothing exists outside of the physical realm. It’s a limiting belief, but one that still prevails in mainstream science. It’s a belief that only the mundane world of cause and effect exists.

However, when we recognize synchronicity, it allows us to move our awareness temporarily to a deeper level beyond the every day world where we appear to be separate entities and everything happens through cause and effect, where we seem surrounded by meaningless chaos. Synchronicity is a connecting point to an underlying reality that transcends cause and effect, even space and time.

Posted in 11, 9-11, World Trade Center | 14 Comments

God Speaks to the Holy Cowboy

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Trish and Rob

Look closely at this man. Imagine him with a .40 caliber pistol strapped to his hip. Then imagine him on a horse, shouting and waving a lit torch as he tears around his Dove World Outreach Center, burning Quarans. That’s his way of commemorating the 9th anniversary of 9-11. But God speaks to him. God is telling him to do this..or not to do this. He and the 50 followers of his church are praying about this, but even the criticism of world leaders, he says, probably won’t deter him.

The fire department in Gainesville, Florida have denied him a permit to burn the Quarans. But Holy Cowboy says his attorneys have told him he can carry on with the burning even if the city denies the  permits. It sounds like the lawyers are talking to God, too.

The synchronicity here bears the dark trickster’s fingerprints. A church that has dove in its name – the universal symbol for peace –  intends to engage in an act that will spark violence. Then again, what were the crusades? How many atrocities have been committed in the name of religion?

Personally, I wish Holy Cowboy and the other idiots like him would just ride off into the sunset and that clouds of dust would swallow them.

Watch Jon Stewart put this guy in his place!

Update. We were going to post this on 9/11, but decided to go a day early because the situation appears to be in flux. The burning has supposedly been cancelled. Or has it? 

Posted in 911, global | 67 Comments

Radio Waves

Posted on September 10, 2010 by Trish and Rob

I was supposed to talk about synchronicity yesterday (Thursday) on Dreamland. The show would include me (Rob) and hosts Anne Streiber and Starfire Tor. It was to begin at 4 p.m. At 4:01, I got a call that they were cancelling due to technical glitches. That’s the second time the show has been canceled, later to be re-scheduled. Oh well.

So a few hours later, I went on Facebook and right away noticed Starfire Tor had posted something new. Here’s what she said:  

“I was thinking about synchronicity, which figures into a show I would have recorded today but that’s postponed because of some technical weirdness. Here’s my question for you. What was the last synchronicity that you had? Was it verbal, visual, a time prompt, or something with tech or on the net? Reply back with your sync. Maybe complete strangers have had similar syncs.”

Okay, I’ve never met Starfire, never talked to her, so I guess I’m a complete stranger, and yes, I have had a similar sync. So here’s how I commented: 

“How about this one: I too was going to talk on the radio about synchronicity…and it was postponed. Oops, same show. lol.”

So then I went to my own Facebook page and put this up: “Twice now I was about to do a radio show on synchronicity on Dreamland and the show was canceled. This time it was technical difficulties, an echoing sound in the system. That’s that kind of stuff that happens during Mercury retrograde..and guess what, it’s Mercury retrograde. Synchronicity.”
***
Readers of Starfire Tor’s Facebook page have added a surprising number of interesting synchros. If you’re on Facebook, you should be able to access her wall.

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments